Primer goes off in inertial bullet puller on a loaded cartrige

[cfullgraf]

It should not have happened no matter how the shell was being held. The shell holder also has a hole in the bottom,,,---(of course it does), just like the 3 segment holder the puller came with. The difference is the steel shell holder does not clamp the rim, it can and does move around. BUT does it move enough to allow the primer to be hit during the action of hitting on the floor? So what if it does, the primer is SUPPOSED to be seated flush, so it,(the primer), can't get hit.

Somewhat of a moot point as the OP was using the three segment case holder designed for his inertia bullet puller.

I agree in principal that a press shell holder in an inertia bullet puller should not cause a detonation of the primer under normal circumstances but over the years I have seen things happen that were not supposed to.

A loose, or less than properly tight, primer may be an extra condition that makes using a press shell holder less safe.

Anyway, here is a good read on the subject. It does not necessary completely answer the question.

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=578426

 

[joem1945]

I had 1 primer go off while using a Lee priming tool. It was a russian LR primer and I barely touched the lever when it went off. Only damage was scortched fingers and small blister.

 

[tark]

BigBore, I had the exact same thing happen to me thirty years ago. The cartridge was a 222 Remington, loaded with a 50 grain bullet. I don't remember the primer. After several whacks without result, I gave it a mighty thump against a heavy vise jaw and... Bang, followed by a loud hiss as the powder did ignite, pushing the bullet out of the case and relieving pressure enough for the burning powder to thoroughly trash the bullet puller. I found the primer imbedded in the ceiling. I came to a conclusion:

I no longer liked inertia bullet pullers.

In this situation, primers that go of can leave the case damn fast. I wonder if the whole thing was caused by the primer not being fully seated in the case. The mighty whack may have seated it and allowed the anvil to set it off. It's the only conclusion I can think of.

It took years before I would use an inertia puller again. I believe they are best when pulling heavier bullets, but using them on a 17 Remington..... uh.. no thanks.

 

[eastbank]

their are bullet pullers that screw into a reloading press like a die that have two or three blades that are beveled on the underside and as the bullet is pushed up thru the blades its griped and as the cartige is lowered the bullet is pulled as the next bullet pushes the last one out. the bullets do get small marks on them,but they shoot just fine and you don,t spill the powder in the case at all. eastbank.

 

[GW Staar]

I've never used a commercial kinetic puller, just my homemade one made long before RCBS (or anyone else) made a commercial kinetic. I've used mine for 45 years without a mishap, so I'm wondering also what happened.

On the RCBS commercial puller......when the primer releases after a few whacks and falls, what does it hit......is the landing padded? Could it have gone off at the bottom of the puller? On my H.M. one, I have a very soft open cell foam landing pad. The only way it could detonate is from something hitting it from the inside before it fell, or, if it was seated "proud" of the case head AND the case head was allowed to move on the shell holder outside the "safe" hole in the center of the shell holder.

The second possibility is the more likely, unless a stainless steel kernal of polishing media happened to make it inside the powder charge.....

 

[spitballer]

Whoa... I always think about exactly this kind of thing happening every time I hammer loose a bullet. Fortunately I use looser necks these days so it's less likely. Consider yourself very lucky dude, glad you weren't injured

 

[fallout mike]

A few weeks ago I was at my uncles house in his shop. He was pulling a few 7mag bullets with a kinetic puller. One went off and scared the mess out of him. It was a loaded round. I'd never heard of it happening before. Surprised it didn't blow the puller up.

 

[rogn]

I think I heard " I gave it several whacks, then finally a rally solid whack" several times. Why cant the pellet fracture then when the bits rub together off the little bugger goes. Its unlikely for any of these to blow up, but a crimped pistol primer might prove me wrong. The damage would be the ruination of your day and of the kinetic puller. I dont use a kinetic puller too often anymore, I use a heady duty wire stripper which I place over the top of the open press The four sharp edges grip the ogive well and the damage to the bullet is negligeable. I use these bullets for sighters or foulers, the change in accuracy at 100 yds is not detectable.

 

[orionengnr]

(Note to self)

Add "using bullet puller" to the list of activities when I will wear eye protection.

 

[gamestalker]

When I was a teen, my friends and I would go camping up in the hills on weekends, and of course someone would always toss a few loaded cartridges in the camp fire. We would all go running in every direction to escape the ensuing and anticipated explosion. Usually it would be a high powered rifle cartridge, or several of them just to make it interesting. My buddy and I, who were semi engaged in reloading at the time, would usually dig through the fire pit the next morning in search of the remnants of the cartridge, we would usually find the hollow jacket of the projectile, with the melted lead core next to it, obviously from the fire melting it. But the brass cartridge would often be in pieces, with pieces of it scattered around the camp fire.

So they can indeed explode, but they're probably not as prone to desegregation by a primer strike, and I imagine that's probably due to the primer blowing out of the pocket before the flash ignites the powder charge. Now if you had a tubular magazine stuffed with FMJ's, which is a big no, no, and one of those gets set off, you'll probably experience a pretty serious KB. The primer can't just exit the pocket, and the bullet can't easily exit the case mouth either, powder gets lit, and the pressures can actually develop quite high, as the cartridges will pretty much simultaneously detonate one after the other.

GS

 

[Hondo 60]

Has any one else ever had a primer go off by accident?

Not by me.
When I first started I made a mistake of using the wrong powder.
Luckily I figured it out before I shot any.
Had 100 rounds of 45 Colt to pull.

Used an inertia hammer & had no issues.

 

[Hondo 60]

So they can indeed explode

Yup. Saw an episode of Mythbusters where they put a round in an oven.
I "think" they set it to 350 - could be wrong about that part.
But the brass case left waayyyy more of a dimple in the oven than the bullet did.
The bullet did not break the glass, but there was a significant dent in the back of the oven, caused by the brass.

Of course then they put a loaded gun in the oven.
It fired as expected & smashed the door glass.